CenterStaging in Burbank, Takes Delivery of Roland M-5000 OHRCA Live Mixing Console

	Will Kerlick and Doug Dubin

CenterStaging in Burbank, California, is a rehearsal and backline facility, specializing in production and technical support for television and live performances. Recently, they took delivery of the new M-5000 OHRCA Live Mixing Console from the Roland Professional A/V Division. CenterStaging has big plans for the console, both on-site in their state-of-the-art rehearsal studios, and in the field as part of their backline rental arsenal. In fact, they've already been putting it to good use, notably during rehearsals for the BET Awards.

The Roland M-5000 Live Mixing Console is the first product based on the OHRCA platform, the company says, which opens a new generation of live sound solutions for audio professionals. "OHRCA" stands for "Open, High Resolution, Configurable Architecture," and the M-5000 reflects this by delivering freely definable audio paths, supporting multiple audio format protocols and offering 96 kHz sound quality throughout the system. The Roland M-5000's internal mix architecture is not fixed and can be freely defined for mixing channels, AUXs, Matrices, subgroup buses, and MIX-MINUS buses within a range of up to 128 audio paths, allowing users to create a console structure to suit the needs of the application.

Will Kerlick, CenterStaging business manager, says, "As one of the top rehearsal and backline facilities, we have to be ready for a lot. Big acts come through here to rehearse in one of our ten studios before they go out on tour -- that's about half of our business, and the other half is backline rental. You could say our main niche is the TV market, so we provide gear to programs like American Idol, The Voice, Dancing With The Stars, the GRAMMY Awards and a lot of other shows. The M-5000 is really going to help us on both sides of our business. Obviously it will be a real asset in our rehearsal studios, and it has the capability for broadcasting and streaming applications, which will be very important moving forward. It's also very easy to see that this is a beautiful console -- there's obviously a lot of thought that went into it, design-wise, and it's a delight to use."

The M-5000 has two built-in REAC ports, plus two expansion card slots with seven expansion card options including Dante, MADI, Waves SoundGrid, or more REAC ports, as well as audio embedded over video protocols. The back panel includes 16x16 analog I/O, 4x4 AES/EBU, a 16x16 USB audio interface, connection for control via an iPad connected or wireless, and control ports including footswitches, GP I/O, RS-232C, and MIDI. All of this capability enables the console to see up to 300 inputs and 296 outputs, all at 96kHz and even more at 48kHz, the company says.

Doug Dubin, CenterStaging audio manager, says, "As audio manager, what I was attracted to mostly about the M-5000 is its high number of inputs and outputs, which is more than we have with many of our other consoles, so if we get a really big rehearsal in here, it's the only console that we have that can really do anything over 48 inputs without having to bring in an outside sub-rental. I was also very impressed with its versatility in being used as an FOH console or a monitor console. The fact that it's compatible with Dante and MADI and the rest, through the expansion cards, and that it has high resolution -- that will all be really good for broadcast applications. Also, our guys picked it up with very minimal training. There are a lot of things I like about it. We are all very excited to have this console in our arsenal."